Bonfire 'won't undermine good work' in Londonderry

The DUP's Graham Warke says he was 'disgusted' at the behaviour of those behind a bonfire in Londonderry's Bogside but will not let it undermine good work in the city.

Photo: Graham Warke, DUP

A number of poppy wreaths and the names of murdered police and prison officers were spotted on the dissident republican bonfire, leading to widespread condemnation.

Kyle Black, whose father David's name appeared on the bonfire, said he was "absolutely sickened".

Alliance leader Naomi Long described it as "disgusting and shameful", while Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald labelled it "vile".

Graham Warke who is a councillor and youth worker in the area said constituents had told him they were "angry and sick to the back teeth with what happened".

"It's not what we want to be seeing their, we want to be moving in the right direction," he said.

Mr Warke, who is preparing to bring a cross-community group of young people on a residential trip said, "There's a lot of good work happening throughout our city."

"You only have to look at the summer. Yes we had trouble in July, but we had the clipper event, we had the Maiden City Festival, we have halloween coming up and we have this beautiful city. Everyone loves the city.

"We have tourists coming in left, right and centre. The last bit of trouble didn't stop them and we'll continue to work together and bring our children together from both sides of the community for a better future," he added.

Assistant Chief Constable Alan Todd, speaking on the Frank Mitchell Phone In had earlier described it as "an abhorrent set of circumstances".

He said that the wreaths and banners were placed on the bonfire, "at late notice and in controvention of undertakings given to the local community by the people responsible".

ACC Todd talked about the difficulty of dealing with such situations - "When things happen at very short notice like that, it's a particular challenge, given the unsafe nature of these structures, for police to immediately go in and intervene. While that might be what we'd want to do, I do need to weigh the safety of my officers and what we're able to do at short notice under those circumstances".